Multimedia Ring Back Tone is a service customized by the called user to provide a personalized multimedia content instead of the normal ring back tone for calling user. Once a customer applies for the Multimedia Ring Back Tone service, a personalized ring back tone may be set as desired. When this customer is called, the personalized multimedia content is played for the calling user instead of the normal ring back tone. In particular, the personalized multimedia ring back tone may be any music, song, recording, video, etc. If it is a video, the calling user terminal must have a corresponding video media playback function to experience the video, which is then referred to as a Multimedia Ring Back Tone Service (MRBT service) or Multimedia Caller Identification Service (MCID service).
The Multimedia Ring Back Tone service of a video phone is customized by the called user to provide the calling user with a piece of dulcet and euphonic Multimedia Caller Identification, instead of the normal ring back tone, when the called user is called by the calling user using a video phone service.
The video phone service is a point-to-point communication service that may utilize audio and video simultaneously. It enables bidirectional real-time communications of both audio and video between two mobile video terminals, between a mobile video terminal and a stationary video terminal, or between a mobile video terminal and a personal computer (PC).
Currently, the Multimedia Ring Back Tone service of a video phone is achieved by integrating a functional module for implementing the Multimedia Ring Back Tone into the terminals, i.e., if a user downloads and configures Multimedia Ring Back Tones, the terminal of the user plays a Multimedia Ring Back Tone for a calling terminal who calls the terminal of the user using a video phone service. The operators profit by charging information fee from the users who download the Multimedia Ring Back Tones, without reconstruction on the network side of the operators. In particular, the user terminal is a reconstructed video phone terminal, with a functional module of Multimedia Ring Back Tone being added based on the video phone terminal. When a calling request from another terminal is received, the called terminal sends an alerting message to the calling party, and then sends a connecting message to initiate a bearer establishment process. Meanwhile, the Multimedia Ring Back Tone application of the terminal is started to prepare for playing the Multimedia Ring Back Tone content, while a bearer of the Multimedia Ring Back Tone is established between the called terminal and the calling terminal by H.245. After the bearer establishment process is finished, the Multimedia Ring Back Tone module of the called terminal plays the Multimedia Ring Back Tone through the established bearer, while the user of the calling terminal listens or views the content of the Multimedia Ring Back Tone via the bearer of the video phone. Once the called user answers the call, the Multimedia Ring Back Tone module of the called terminal stops playing the content, and transfers the control right to the user of the terminal. Then, the whole process of the Multimedia Ring Back Tone service completes.
However, as discovered by the inventor of the present invention, the prior art schemes require to reconstruct the terminals to add a functional module for implementing the Multimedia Ring Back Tone, so as to play the content of the Multimedia Ring Back Tone during the call. Moreover, the functional module for implementing the Multimedia Ring Back Tone and the functional module for the video phone should be integrated to cooperate with each other. Therefore, the requirement for the terminals is high. If the terminal is to select much Multimedia Ring Back Tone content, the content would be stored locally. Moreover, the operators profit only by charging information fee from the users who download the Multimedia Ring Back Tones, which changes the prior income mode of the operators substantially, and thus departs from the requirements of the operators.
On the other hand, due to the problem of signaling mode, the terminal may incorrectly deem that the communication process of the video phone service has already started while the Multimedia Ring Back Tone is being played. Therefore, it is impossible for the terminals to accurately charge for the communication duration, thereby bringing complaints from the users.